The DuPage Community Clinic in Wheaton, IL, is ending its 20-year-old free dental program at the end of June due to dwindling donations, Chicago Breaking News reported.
More than 30 dentists and hygienists volunteer at the clinic, which provided cleanings, extractions, fillings, and crowns to about 1,600 patients without insurance in 2010.
The clinic will shift the available funding to its Westmont facility, a free clinic that reported 5,000 visitations in 2010, a 60% increase from the year before, the article stated. The clinic operators anticipate that number to grow to 9,000 in the next several years.
The DuPage Community Clinic will direct those seeking dental care to the College of DuPage and the DuPage County Health Department, according to the News.
One dentist interviewed suggested that the board should have acted more quickly to sound the alarm about the severe decrease in funding, the News added.
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